Ramon's Vision about the Future of Mobile. Keynote Presentation at Droidcon Belgium 2010

Sometimes one is amazed by the things that can be done with a lot of pressure. This presentation is one of these cases. Thanks to Patrick Boostels I was given the chance to do the closing keynote presentation atDroidCon Belgium 2010 in Brussels, a one day event for Android developers, influencers and business people. I was only given day to create and prepare the full presentation. Talk about rush!

At least Patrick was kind enough to give me a good title to work from: Ramon's Vision. I could speak freely about my vision on the future of mobile and Android, and so I did. After a full day talking applications and other very technical stuff (of which I don't know enough to talk about) I decided to talk with the participants about what I thought was the most important factor for the development of mobile technologies: people.

The bad news is that I wear glasses: my vision is not that clear ;)?? ??It is also distorted by:?? ??

Culture??

Personality??

Attention span??

These factors are in constant evolution and so is my?? vision.?? ??It is also shaped by my communications with people, face to face and with the use of tools. In other words,?? it is shaped by my relationships.

3. GOOD NEWS! Mobile & Internet Junkie

The good news is that I'm a mobile & Internet junkie.?? ??My best shots come through Social Media (mega addict).?? ??I love mobile: it is a multiplier of communication and a?? relationship builder.?? ??Increased contact means more and stronger?? relationships (weak and strong links).?? ??As any good junkie, I can also justify my addiction and?? with it point at what I think are the two main factors of?? success for the mobile plus Internet mix:

4. Ubiquity

The World is in my hand, accessed from my phone no matter where I am.

5. Instant Gratification

I get what I want when I want it: NOW.??

Very powerful and hyper-addictive.?? No image can depict the physical feeling of satisfaction?? ??I get every time I want something and I instantly get?? it. It Is a physical experience.?? ??A lot of satisfaction shots throughout the day.

6. Key to the future?

What is the key to the future of mobile??? ??Where is the holy mobile grail that will resolve the?? questions about flash vs html5, operating systems,?? multiplicity of devices, and more?

7. PEOPLE

Sorry it is not technology: the answer is people: the?? users. They decide what to use and what to do with?? it. So focus on people!?? ??People are all about relationships. Relationships built?? through conversation (in different forms).?? ??It is about persons talking to persons: one to one, one to many, many to one, and many to many?? conversations.?? ??Mobile technologies play an important role: they are??multipliers of communication and of relationship?? building.

8. I 0

People are not binary. Not only right or wrong, black or?? white, on or off.?? ??Many different ways of doing the right thing, and there?? are many right things.?? ??Think about your personal development from childhood to adult: copy, good or bad, and do what you are told?? vs own decisions, personality, and creativity.?? ??You choose what to do applying your common sense?? and experience, but you are not alone in this world.

9. This is your brain on drugs

This is your brain on technology.?? ??Obsession with the building blocks instead of what will be?? their use is also a drug, with very bad effects on the health?? of your product.?? ??It may be great fun to do something very difficult and?? succeeding in doing so, but that fun only applies to the?? person doing it. What do others care? Nothing.?? ??Do you care about your users? Worry about what they need?? and want.?? ??It is not technology or the tool that matters, it is what we do?? with it.

10. Use of technology

Technology is not to be thrown at users like we throw punches. (touch multi-touch example)?? ??It is about what users make of it, about what makes?? their life better.?? ??Best pan for fried eggs in the world! Be it. You don't have?? control over what people will ultimately do, but you can?? greatly influence it.?? ??Il Postino and Pablo Neruda: "Poetry doesn't belong to those?? who write it, but to those who need it." > Il Postino?? Geek: Technology doesn't belong to those who make it, but?? to those who need it.?? ??So please...

11. Stop the suffering

Stop the suffering: make your users' life easier and?? they will make your life easier, on top of incr
easing?? the success of your product.?? ??Don't make them cry of pain when trying to figure out?? how to find and use your product.?? ??Same applies to yourself: life is already hard enough, don't make it harder.?? ??How do you stop the suffering?

12. Get into their shoes

Get into their shoes from the very beginning.?? ??Figure out what it would be like if you where them and?? also talk to them (they know better than anyone else?? what they want.)?? ??You are building your product for them, not for yourself.?? ??Walk your product and processes.?? ??It does not mean you have to do everything they say:?? the choice is all yours, as success or failure will be,?? but bear them in mind.

13. BE RELEVANT

Getting into their shoes will help you be relevant.??

Relevant to your users not yourself.??

Use their words.??

More important comes first.

14. Relationships

How can you be relevant??? ??Be relevant by developing relationships with your?? users. The better you know them the easier it will be?? for you to understand them and to be relevant.?? ??The better they know you and the more they interact?? with you the stronger the relationship will be. The?? stronger the relationship the longer it will last.?? ??Satisfaction will increase with the relationship.?? ??Don't limit yourself to typed communication: get real.?? Let them know you personally: go out into the world,?? network, give presentations, broadcast videos, talk?? over the phone or voip, arrage meetups...

15. Is this you?

Very important part of a relationship is how you present?? yourself.?? ??Imagine a party with a guest that approaches you?? wearing a plastic bag in his head.?? ??Would you talk to this guy?????

What kind of trust does he project??? ??(By the way: profiles without pictures suck!)

16. ?

And in a room full of people with the same bag in their?? head, how would you know who you already know?? and who would you choose to talk to??? ??How can people easily recognize you? How do you?? stand out and differentiate? What makes you?? memorable??? ??We are humans, we like humans, we talk to humans?? not companies or products.?? ??Don't hide yourselves! Build person to person?? relationships. Dare to have a personality.?? ??My vision about the future of mobile is about people.?? ??And the future is reached every second.

17. How about your vision?

Thanks to all the people that twitted and blogged good words about the presentation, they were more than I expected. In fact I was dreaming of upseting some Android developers enough to throw me their mobiles in anger (in the hopes of landing a new Nexus One), but I did not succeed.

Ramon Suarez

Ramon Suarez

Coworking and new ways of working, tech startups and entrepreneurship, Internet marketing, life from Brussels and around the world driven by curiosity and the joy of learning and meeting people.